“Please, Dad. Let me handle it.”
I looked at my daughter. I still saw the girl on the stairs, but she wasn’t little anymore.
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Use it only if she lies.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“Then it stays closed.”
That seemed fair.
“Use it only if she lies.”
***
The box was where it had always been, behind old papers and a blanket nobody used. I pulled it down with both hands and carried it back.
“There,” I said, setting it on the table. “Fifteen years.”
***
On the wedding day, I woke before sunrise.
I was in a small room, fighting with my tie, when Jerome came in.
“Need help?”
I woke before sunrise.
“I raised six girls,” I said. “You’d think I could handle fabric by now.”
He fixed the knot. “You handled the hard part. Today is about Adele. But I know what it took to get her here.”
I had to blink.
“Take care of her.”
“I will.”
The door opened, and Lucille walked in like she was entering a fight.
